1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for efficient transport, transfer and movement of fluids. In particular, the invention provides fluidic micro-structures for controlled transport and movement of liquids in devices for analytical and other purposes. Devices of the invention include one or more features that can enhance performance of the fluid transfer, described below and referred to as a “pre-shooter stop”, a “butterfly” structure, a “cascade” structure, a waste chamber inlet, a capillary driven sample inlet chamber, a capillary stop structure, a bifurcation flow-through mechanism, and a hydrophobic vent.
2. Background
The development of bio-array technologies promises to revolutionize the way biological research is carried out. Bio-arrays, wherein a library of biomolecules is immobilized on a small slide or chip, allow hundreds to thousands of assays to be carried out simultaneously on a miniaturized scale. This permits researchers to quickly gain large amounts of information from a single sample. In many cases, bio-array type analysis would be impossible using traditional biological techniques due to the rarity of the sample being tested and the time and expense necessary to carry out large-scale analysis.
Bio-arrays or chips as substrate platforms for analytical purposes will continue to transform the way the analysis and the determination of materials will be carried out in the future. Low cost chips will become established in a variety of fields where easy and rapid analysis is demanded with very low amount of sample availability. For example, such fields may include: medical, clinical, biochemical, chemical, environmental, food, and industrial analysis. In many of these areas, analysis is limited or even impossible using traditional laboratory techniques due to the very time-consuming and expensive procedures, combined with high sample volume requirement.
Although bio-arrays are powerful research tools, they suffer from a number of shortcomings. For example, bio-arrays tend to be expensive to produce due to difficulties involved in reproducibly manufacturing high quality arrays. Also, bio-array techniques cannot always provide the sensitivity nor the consistent results necessary to perform desired experimentation. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an improved device which is available for a variety of miniaturized analytical purposes including analytical chips, and allowing for effective transport, delivery, and removal of liquids for efficient experimentation using bio-arrays.